BERLIN – Germany is extending its exclusion until April 18 and is urging citizens to stay home for five days during the Easter holidays to try to break a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chancellor Angela Merkel said early on Tuesday.
In talks that went on deep into the night, Merkel urged the leaders of Germany’s 16 countries to take a tougher stance to fight the pandemic, and announced plans for a gradual reopening of the economy, which earlier agreed this month, turned around to a sharp rise in the infection rate. .
“We are now basically in a new pandemic. The British mutation has become dominant,” Merkel told a news conference.
“Fundamentally, we are facing a new virus of the same kind, but with many different characteristics. Lethal, more contagious and longer contagious.”
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Germany began easing restrictions cautiously earlier this month. But the spread of more contagious variants of the virus has increased cases, raising concerns that hospitals may soon be limited.
The number of cases per 100,000 people over a week stood at 107 on Monday, above the level at which intensive care units will be overwhelmed. More than 3,000 people with Covid-19 are in intensive care.
Britain on Monday demanded that the European Union allow the supply of Covid-19 vaccines to be ordered, as tensions over a possible export ban on EU-made shots increased, and Brussels pointed an accusing finger at the vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca shown.
After falling far behind Brexit in Britain and the United States in the deployment of vaccines, EU leaders must discuss a possible ban on the export of vaccines to Britain at a summit on Thursday.
“We have a problem – which was known – with AstraZeneca,” Merkel said, adding that she supported the European Commission. “We will make a responsible decision.”
For five days from April 1, Germans should stay home and reduce contact as much as possible. But the late-night deal does not include the closure of all stores, including essential stores such as supermarkets, which Merkel has called for.
Large family gatherings will be prohibited during the holidays, with a maximum of two households, or up to five people, being allowed to gather. The government will ask churches to hold any Easter services online to avoid gatherings.
Economists said the expansion of Germany’s closure measures would delay a very hopeful recovery in Europe’s largest economy from spring to early summer.
Easter trip
Talks continued for hours as Merkel and state leaders clashed over restrictions on domestic travel during the Easter holidays.
Germans can travel freely in the midst of the pandemic, but hotels and resorts in the country are not allowed to rent rooms to tourists. This is the trip abroad as the only option for those who are desperate to vacation.
“We do not advise you to travel abroad,” Merkel said.
Airline will now be responsible for ensuring that all travelers and crew are tested for coronavirus before leaving for Germany, regardless of the infection rate in the country they have visited.
But Merkel and the state leaders have not imposed the mandatory quarantine for all returning travelers, a relief for holiday destinations such as Spanish Mallorca, which gives a boost from Easter travel.
Merkel said Germany was in a race against time to vaccinate its population before adopting new coronavirus variants. About 9 percent of Germans have received at least one shot of vaccine, but the rate of vaccinations is expected to increase next month.
“Things are stickier for longer than we expected, but there is very clear light at the end of the tunnel,” Merkel said.